Edition XXII

COMBAT COLD WEATHER STRESS IN HORSES

People combat cold weather by putting on additional clothing, but horses fight the elements by using more energy to maintain body temperature. While most people can address their own needs, horses are dependent upon their owners to provide proper nutrition and protection from the weather, said Dave Freeman, PhD, PAS, Dipl. ACAN, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension equine specialist.

Energy for Body Warmth

"The temperature below which a particular horse starts to expend additional energy for maintaining body warmth (called the critical temperature) will vary," he said. He attributes this to several factors including the amount of fat each horse has, the thickness of their winter coats, how well the horse acclimatizes to the cold weather.

For example, a horse with short hair, exposed to wet, cold weather, might need significantly more energy when the temperature gets below 50° F (10° C). A horse acclimatized to cold weather, with a thick hair coat and fat cover, may not expend appreciably more energy until the temperature drops below 30° F (-1° C).

As a general rule, a 1% increase in the energy required to stay sufficiently warm is needed to replace the energy lost for each degree the temperature falls below the horse’s critical temperature. Simply put, a horse owner would have to supply roughly two pounds more feed for each 10 degrees Fahrenheit below the critical temperature per day when horses are consuming typical hay and grain rations, a situation that is not practical.

Condition the Horse

"…Horses need to be preconditioned for cold weather by increasing fat thickness and body condition before the onset of winter," Freeman said. Freeman cautions that a horse manager cannot just provide additional feed to offset loss of body condition.

"Sudden changes in grain composition and amounts will increase the incidence of colic and founder," he said. "It’s best to make adjustments in grain gradually over a period of several days, especially if horses already are consuming large quantities of grain."

Owners also should consider feeding large amounts of grass hay to horses restricted from forage. Free-choice hay helps horses exposed to cold weather, partly because of the heat generated by digestion and also as an aid to a continual supply of nutrients.

Shelter for Horses

Another way to lessen horses’ stress resulting from exposure to wintery weather is to provide some form of shelter from wind, rain, and cold. Some pastures provide enough natural protection that manmade shelters are not required.

"Owners housing horses in areas unprotected from wet, windy weather should consider constructing windbreaks or sheds," Freeman said.

Freeman reminds owners to consider horse instincts and herd pecking orders when deciding on windbreak or shed design. Areas housing a single horse or two horses that are compatible with one another will allow for an enclosed shed with three or four sides. These structures should be similar in size to recommendations for stalls: 10 feet by 10 feet minimum for each horse.

The same type of structure will not work in pens with large numbers of horses, or groups of horses with large ranges in horse dominance orders.

"An enclosed, sided structure may increase horse injury to horses on the low end of the herd dominance order by the more dominant horses," Freeman said. "This type of structure may be inefficient because dominant horses will keep others from having access."

Freeman recommends single-sided windbreaks with a top cover be used in herds with both dominant and passive horses.

"Also, owners should consider two or three of these structures spread about the area because one long, continuous structure is easily guarded by dominant horses," he said.

In some situations aggressive behavior becomes such a problem that horses need to be separated. The more submissive horses generally will need more shelter because they are the ones that are usually in the least favorable body condition, Freeman concluded.

thehorse.com, by: Edited Press Release December 19 2010, Article # 17404

THE SPOTTED STALLION

The spotted stallion stood guard under the winter bare branches of the elm tree, gazing out across the adjacent pasture to the barn and paddock some 50 yds away. Three geldings and two mares rested in the paddock. His heart leapt with joy as he gazed came across the small brown mare whose belly was heavy with his foal. But it was the recently arrived speckled mare that held his gaze. She called out to him, but he did not answer. Something about her reminded him of his soul mate, the chestnut mare, passed away some two years now. He snaked and tossed his magnificent head of silver locks and paced restlessly in a circle before pausing under the elm once more.

Suddenly his ears perked and he turned away from the mares to watch the woman walk up the hill towards him where he stood between the gnarled roots of the elm. She paused about twenty feet away and smiled saying ‘hey bud’, beckoning the stallion with her eyes. He walked forward, ears pricked with interest, his soulful brown eyes gazing into that of the woman’s twinkling green ones. He nuzzled the front of her dusty coat in welcome. His soft nose gently checked her hands for treats or the scent of the little brown or the speckled mare. He licked her hand lightly once and then stepped forward to lay his head lovingly against her shoulder. The two shared a moment out of time, where hearts connect.

Stepping back he shook himself and sighed. The woman sighed also, the days’ worries lifting from her heart. She fingered a lock of his mane, sparkling like sunlight dancing on waves. The stallion turned and slowly walked back to his post under the elm, licking and chewing. The woman asked the stallion why his mind was on spring when it was only just Christmas. He threw his head up and yawned three times in blissful contentment. The woman smiled knowingly and walked away.

by: Laurinda Rheinhart, Snow Camp, NC

‘To see the wind’s power, the rain’s cleansing and the sun’s radiant life, one need only to
look at the horse.’-Unknown

DARK HORSE

I WENT TO AN AUCTION last Monday. Not an auction for foreclosed homes. Not an auction for priceless art or jewelry or land. I went to the New Holland Livestock Auction in the Amish and Mennonite country of New Holland, Pennsylvania, where each week horses are sold—though I’d no intention of buying one. I know a thing or two about horses. I spend a significant amount of time with them and can groom them, bathe them, saddle them, walk them, run them on a lead, ride them, feed them, blanket them, work them in a round pen, give them medicine, soak their sore hooves, lift and stretch their hindlegs and forelegs, clean the undersides of their feet, bandage their legs, and minister to their wounds. But I could not foresee, in the spare few minutes each horse at such an auction is given to demonstrate its abilities, personality, strength, or lack thereof (whether young or old, muscled or thin), that I’d be able to determine whether any particular horse would be the one for me.

Besides, it was hard to even think at the auction. I took a seat in the large crowd of people—with the Amish men wearing straw hats, black pants, and jackets; with the Mennonite men in their black hats and suspendered pants; with the city slickers from somewhere else and the country folk from nearby; with children and their grandparents fussing over spilled sodas. People talked, laughed, visited, ate hot dogs, Amish pies, and French fries. We all sat sandwiched together in the steep, gray bleachers that formed an oval around the dirt ring in which the horses were shown, one after another, from ten a.m. until midafternoon. A “loose horse” was a horse that came into the auction ring without a rider; the horses with riders were called “saddle horses.” Loose horses are at a disadvantage in terms of finding a good home because even though they are often saddle broke they nonetheless sell for less without a rider atop them in the ring.

The fate of those horses that entered and exited the ring quickly—such as one thin copper-colored Thoroughbred mare I remember—seemed bleak, the implication being that the horse was barely worth the time it took to auction off. That particular Thoroughbred mare, whose long, flaxen mane and tail were braided, must have had someone who had cared enough for her to make her pretty, perhaps believing this would help sell her to a good home, where a girl might braid her once again. Her head hanging low, she slowly walked around the ring, only once, and then stepped out a side exit. If there was any bidding for her, I didn’t hear or see it.

More than once the black-bearded Mennonite man running the auction—someone called him Zimmerman—asked the audience to settle down. Given the noisy crowd and the loud, stern voice of the auctioneer calling out in rapid-fire succession the back-and-forth bidding for the animals, I did not expect the saddle horses to try so hard to do well. Horses are flight animals; they flee at the unfamiliar; fear is their dominant emotion. But they are social creatures, too. They aim to please because they’ve learned to trust, which meant that even the strong and healthy horses, of which there were many, obediently did as they were told amid the chaos of the auction: go forward; go back; turn left, now right; stop, immediately; go fast, go slow; stand still. They were willing to do as asked, as they’ve been over the centuries—to churn the soil in our fields, to fight our battles, to run our races until their lungs bleed or their bones break. This might possibly be their last chance to perform, and they mustered up that certain nobility and courage possessed by horses, as though they had upon their backs the Navajo of long ago, the warriors who, before battle, would whisper into the ears of their horses: Be brave and nothing will happen. We will come back safely.

To read the complete article by: Lisa Couturier, visiJuly/August 2010 issue of ORION Magazine

AFTER THE FINISH LINE AT THE IMPROV IN LOS ANGELES

Join ATFL on Sunday, February 6, 2011 at the IMPROV in Los Angeles for our comedy fundraiser called "Stand Up For Horses".

Our silent auction runs from 5:45 – 7:30 pm and showtime is from 7:30 – 9 pm. This will be a great night of comedy in support of the horses. Please contact Dawn at (858) 945-1371 or dawn@afterthefinishline.org for more information.

‘To see her is to love her, and love but she forever,For Nature made her what she is.‘-Robert Barns

With modern education over-emphasizing intellectual and verbal arts, people who somehow manage to train all three of their “brains” become more influential, downright irresistible to populations who lack this full-bodied charisma. Take Ronald Reagan, whose firm yet congenial, focused, larger-than-life presence is, in fact, the mark of a rider capable of harnessing power and intelligence without repressing the spirit that brings it to life. He so swayed public opinion that the phenomenon of “Democrats for Reagan” was cited by Barack Obama as an inspiration for cultivating cross-party support.

Photos of Reagan on horseback—heading across the range in any number of old Western movies, mounted on his regal gray Arabian at the ranch, and later, riding English-style with Queen Elizabeth—are plentiful on the Internet. Most people would consider this a colorful, perhaps elitist, pastime. Yet the fact that Reagan loved to ride speaks volumes about what kind of intricate, nonverbal training he received to become the noteworthy leader history has since proven him to be….To Reagan, ranching was no publicity stunt. He’d ride El Alamein, his feisty Arabian stallion for hours through the high desert outback, leaping over fallen trees, so immersed in the experience that he’d rarely speak to his mounted secret service agents on the trail….

To read the compete article and more of Linda’s articles, visit Linda Kohanov on HorseConscious

‘TIS THE SEASON: $1000 COLIC LESSON

This story is about two horses named Denaldi & Majestic and a girl named Leslie. She called me to tell me her mare Denaldi had coliced and she had brought her over to the vet hospital. She felt everything she had done at home was not working. She had given her 12 ccs of Banamine 4 hours ago. There were no bowel sounds, the mare had not drank and was getting even more dehydrated as time progressed. Her gums were fading and reaction time was slow, heart rate was elevated, eyes were glazed over, and she had been looking at her sides earlier, but not rolling. She seemed comfortable at the moment, because she was drugged. But, with this slow progress, did not want to wait until it was a real emergency and took her to the vet clinic while she still could. There at least she felt that the mare would get whatever medical attention she needed and could be monitored.

Well, through out the night she worried whether or not she would have to make that fateful decision if her mare needed to go for surgery. She knew that she would have to put her beautiful mare down. She could not afford to have the surgery. She worried about what the outcome would be for her beautiful 10 year old Arabian mare that had been with her since she was 21. She had trained her from a young foal to the horse of her dreams. The mare was a present from her grandmother, for her to bring along into an endurance prospect. They had come a long way and grew up together. She did not want to think about losing her mare to colic or worse yet, making the decision to put her down.

Leslie just had the two horses and had felt she had always taken the best care of them. But, she remembers someone once saying to her if you have horses long enough, you will have colic. She had given psyllium and is now remembering that her friend showed her the study that suggested that even with psyllium, horses were getting bouts of colic. She fed off the ground, on a mat, watered down their feed, fed small meals 3x day, gave a pat of alfalfa along with Tifton regularly. But, here was her worst night mare coming true. She hoped for a good outcome, where she did not have to make that fateful decision. Her wish came true the next day as she was able to pick up her mare from the hospital. Her overnight care was $1000.00. At this point she was very grateful and was elated to be bringing her horse home alive, until that night…

The next night presented her with a new set of emotions… Her mare Majestic was now colicing. Her neighbor had just come over and she had been telling her what had happened to Denaldi the night before. Luckily her friend rushed home and told her not to give the mare anything yet. No Banamine, she screamed as she rushed over to her house. She emerged with a 4 oz. bottle of a natural product, a 60 cc syringe and instructions. Leslie gave Majestic the product orally as her girlfriend told her to. She figured it could not hurt to try it, she believed in natural products. She trusted her girlfriend as she loved her horses and cared for them as much as she did.

As they were waiting, her friend told her it works by going to the Pelvic Flexure and Cecum where impactions occur. She said that the only way a vet can get to those two places is if the horse went on to surgery. She read her the active ingredients which were in the formula. She said as the formula is ingested it divides up into four parts to eliminate what ever brought on the bout to begin with. That it is a natural alternative and works in unison to stop the bout. It works on Impaction, Gas, Sand or Mild Spasmodic colic’s, she stated. Leslie watched her mare turn around within10 minutes after giving her this product. Her mare Majestic had pooped; she went over to the water and even started to drink. What was amazing was how fast the product had worked. Within a matter of 30 minutes her mare was acting like a horse again. She had no more pain and the bout was over. She had gone back to grazing like nothing had even been bothering her. She thanked her friend for bringing over this wonderful product that stopped her mare’s pain and helped her get past the colic. She sat there for 3 hours after just pondering why she had to learn such an expensive lesson the night before with Denaldi.

An amazing revelation came to Leslie as she watched her beautiful horses. She knew she would never be caught without this product ever again. She called me to relay this story about Equine Colic Relief America. She wanted to make sure she had it in the barn, trailer, and on endurance rides from now on, and of course to repay her friend who she contributes to saving her horses life with this product.

She was ecstatic and thankful she did not have to go through another night like the one before. She was caught up in the moment of how fast this product had worked on her horse. She wanted to tell her vet about it. She knew if she had this product the night before wouldn’t have been worrying if she had to put her mare down or not. She could have saved her own horse fast. Leslie knew she had learned a $1000.00 colic lesson the hard way. www.ecramerica.com or 888 327-0327

By: Pam Schroeder; Freelance Writer

Note: We do not endorse products, our intention is to educate so you can add to your arsenal. Joey is an impaction surgery recovery and we have added this to ours. Tessa

‘They drink the fountains, Fiery and sacred is their breath, and like the whirlwind they must go.
‘-Dorothy Wellesley

BOOK REVIEW

CAROLE DEVEREUX: SPIRIT OF THE HORSE
Reviewed by Carol M. Upton – www.dreamsaloud.ca

Animals have the capacity and the power to expand their minds into extraordinary states of consciousness.  My horses have often shown their otherworldly journeys into The Dreamtime to me.  Buddy once told me that he can "feel" the hoof beats of his species running all over the Earth. ~ Carole Devereux

This graceful and timely book takes us on a transformational journey like no other, to the mystic world where the spirit of the horse resides. Carole Devereux introduces a rich language for concepts we may have felt while working with horses, but have been unable to articulate.

Animal-lovers know they can communicate, to one degree or another, with their animals, and there have been many books written on this subject. Devereux guides us beyond that familiar landscape, advancing our understanding of equine perspective and unlocking the endless possibilities present when we truly listen to what horses are saying.

Spirit of the Horse examines the early life of horses, from Eohippus through the Stone Age, and the ancient relationships horses had with human beings. Devereux reminds us that historically, we depended on communion with animals in order to live, much of that wisdom forgotten as we began to exploit resources and work within a paradigm known as “dominion over the earth”. Today, we are moving back to the lessons of nature, and animals, particularly horses, are here to help.

These lessons are evident in the hidden treasures of equus mythology as narrated by Devereux’s horses Buddy and Ellie. Through the myths, we begin to feel the emotional and spiritual impact of horses on our lives. Now, a series of guided visualizations gently assists us to explore our own stories of connection, truth, and healing.

One of the most revealing chapters covers the Yogic system of India, discussing how Yogic practices can help both horse and rider unite body and mind in their work together. We may already know that horses are experts at reading energy, but how do we use this knowledge in our riding? The answers are here.

Spirit of the Horse demonstrates that horses can tell us much more than we have dreamed and can lead us along paths of continuous spiritual growth. Reading it stirs us emotionally, significantly uplifts our souls, and leaves us hungry for more.

Carole Devereux is an internationally known Animal Communicator, spiritual life coach and teacher. She has more than fifteen years experience counseling thousands of people and their animals across North America and Europe. Visit Carole at www.animalinsights.com and learn more about Spirit of the Horse at: Spirit Of The Horse book

“The events in our lives happen in a sequence in time, but their significance to ourselves, they find their own order…the continuous thread of revelation” – Eudora Welty

MUSTANG PROJECT

The American Mustang may soon no longer run free. In 1971, Congress passed a law giving the horses federal protection. The law states that the horses are not to be hunted with aircraft, harassed or rounded up for slaughter. But since 1971, the horses have been given no protection. Many are rounded up then sent to holding facilities for the remainder of their lives, others are sent around the country to adoption sites. Some are adopted. Horse Play, an equine rescue & sanctuary in Rhode Island has saved several mustangs from slaughter, vicitms of botched BLM adoptions. While they will never again run free with their families, they’ve made new ones here and will live out their lives at our sanctuary. Horse Play wishes to thank the following photographers Elyse Gardner, Laura Leigh, Craig Downer, RT & Terry Fitch, Jodie Sinclair, Sheila Ryan, Doug Learned and Deidre Sharp

For more information on the plight of America’s Wild Horses visit:

The Cloud Foundation – www.thecloudfoundation.org
Equine Welfare Alliance – www.equinewelfarealliance.org
Horse Play – www.hptrc.org

‘To ride a horse is to ride the sky. ‘-Anonymous